Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 6 October 2018
::NATIONAL::
Vice President urges people to Step up campaign for organ donation
- The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu called for
stepping up the campaign for organ donation in a big way to meet the huge
demand due to rising number of end organ failures of kidney, liver, heart,
lung and pancreas.
- Addressing the 29th annual conference of the Indian Society of
Organ Transplantation in Hyderabad today, Shri Naidu pointed out that
although there was a huge requirement for donated organs in the country,
only a miniscule number were getting them.
- The Vice President said though there was a huge leap in cadaveric
organ donations in the last 4-5 years, the demand-supply remained hugely
unmet because of low rates of organ donation at 0.8 per million population
when smaller countries like Spain and Croatia were having rates of 36 per
million and 32 per million respectively.
- Emphasizing that prevention was better than cure, the Vice
President said many end stage diseases can be prevented by lifestyle
modifications. Expressing his concern over the increasing burden of
non-communicable diseases, he told the medical fraternity to educate the
people on the dangers of leading sedentary lifestyle, eating junk food and
on excessive consumption of alcohol and tobacco.
- Observing that doctors are treated with reverence in India, he
told them to treat patients with empathy and provide the much-needed human
touch. Unfortunately, due to the present-day fast-paced lifestyles, doctors
were not spending as much time as needed with each patient. This should
change and doctors must spend more time with each patient like the family
physician used to in the past, he added.
Rohingyan refugees in Delhi camps fear deportation
- The 235 Rohingya refugees staying at the KalindiKunj camp are
worried about their future after the government deported seven of them on
Friday. The Supreme Court had on Thursday refused to stay their deportation.
Most of refugees in the camp earn a living as daily-wage labourers and
e-rickshaw or autorickshaw drivers.
- They alleged that the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO)
had refused to extend their visas, which expired in 2017.
- The refugees said a police team had visited the camp on Monday and
distributed a six-page nationality verification form titled ‘Personal Data
Form’. The police asked each of them to fill the form and complete it with a
photograph, by Thursday.
- “We lost everything, including our United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR] cards. However, they were reissued within
two days. We were provided with all facilities, including electricity and
ration. Our visa, which were issued in 2014, expired in 2017 but the FRRO
refused to extend [them] citing procedural delay,” said Samil Mullah, a
refugee who runs a grocery shop in the camp.
- “We want the government of India to assure our freedom in Myanmar.
If it cannot do this, let us stay here peacefully. We will never demand
anything,” said FaiyazAhmed.The refugees said they will be killed in Myanmar
if they are deported.
::ECONOMY::
RBI to bring in stronger asset liability norms for NBFC’s
- The on-going crisis in IL&FS has made Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
to consider tightening the norms of asset-liability management (ALM) of
non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). The RBI observed that those entities
were relying heavily on short-term funds for lending to long-term projects.
- “I would like to urge all the financial firms to place greater
reliance on equity and other mode of long term finance for funding of long-
term assets rather than relying excessively on short-term wholesale paper,
chasing lower marginal cost of funding in order to retain or acquire market
share. This is a myopic strategy,” RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya said in
the post policy press conference.
- N.S. Vishwanathan, another Deputy Governor, said there was a need
to tighten NBFCs’ asset-liability management norms.
- He said there had been a rapid growth of NBFCs in the last couple
of years and some of them had increased their market borrowing by issuing
commercial papers, which resulted in asset-liability mismatch. He, however,
added that isolated events should not be seen as having system-wide
implications and the sector was overall quite strong with a robust
regulatory framework.
- RBI Governor Urjit Patel said the government’s intervention in the
IL&FS crisis was timely and appropriate.
- “The well-structured institutional measures taken by the Central
Government in the IL&FS case have been timely and appropriate,” Dr. Patel
said.
Centre to promote value chain in organic farming in North East region
- Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare ShriRadha Mohan Singh
while addressing the conclave of Chief Ministers of Himalayan states
organized in Shimla said that Himalayan states are diverse in agricultural
species, agricultural production systems and livestock breeds.
- This diversity is extremely useful for the future, not only for
humans but also for the protection and development of all animals and
plants.
- He said that organic farming should be emphasized for the coming
generations. For the promotion of organic farming, there is a plan to
develop clusters of 50 acres for which funds are being provided in the ratio
of 90:10.
- In order to promote value chain in organic farming in North East
region, financial assistance for advanced seed plantation materials,
development of basic structure etc is being provided to Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
- Under the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North
Eastern Region (MOVCD-NER), 50,000 farmers have been engaged in organic
farming and 2500 interested farmers group have been developed. Sikkim is the
first state to adopt organic farming and learning from it, other states are
also adopting organic farming.
- He said that under the National Horticulture Mission, assistance
is being provided mainly for the construction of ca storage, nurseries,
processing units in the North Eastern and Himalayan states.
- Drawing attention towards climate change, the Minister said that
in order to deal with this, 45 Integrated Farming System models have been
developed by ICAR covering all 15 agro-climatic areas of the country. These
climate-friendly technologies are being displayed and promoted in 29 states
through KVKs.
::INTERNATIONAL::
India signs S-400 missile deal with Russia
- India and Russia on Friday concluded the contract for five S-400
‘Triumf’ missile systems, one of the biggest defence deals in recent times,
after the annual summit between Prime Minister NarendraModi and Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
- The announcement of the deal, which could attract sanctions from
the United States, was made in a joint statement issued by both sides. “The
sides welcomed the conclusion of the contract for the supply of the S-400
long range surface to air missile to India,” said the statement.
- However, the two sides failed to conclude two other major deals,
for stealth frigates and assault rifles, that were reportedly ready, as
officials said further negotiations were needed.
- It was also the only agreement not included with eight others
exchanged in the presence of Mr.Modi and Mr. Putin, a possible move to avoid
the controversy engendered when the last such deal for Rafale aircraft in
2015 was announced directly by the Prime Minister.
- The U.S. has warned the deal would invoke sanctions under the
Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) law, which
penalises defence purchases from Russia, Iran and North Korea, as soon as
the first payment is made, unless President Donald Trump grants a “waiver.”
- On Friday, the U.S. Embassy issued a statement warning that any
waiver for the S-400 deal would only be considered on a
“transaction-by-transaction basis.” “We cannot prejudge any sanctions
decisions,” its spokesperson added.
Centre Releases Study on India-China Trade
- Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh
Prabhu, released a study by the Department of Commerce on India-China Trade.
The report tries to analyse the magnitude, extent and plausible reasons of
India’s rising trade deficit with China.
- The Commerce Minister said that India’s trade relationship with
China is unique and no other bilateral trading relationship evokes as much
interest in India as the India-China trade relationship. From being a small
trading partner of India in 2001, within a span of fifteen years, China has
rapidly become India’s biggest trading partner.
- Trade between the two countries has been expanding but India’s
trade deficit with China has been growing.
- While releasing the study the Minister said that most industry
associations want the Government to pursue a defensive approach to Free
Trade Agreements (FTAs) and raise tariffs on the doctrine of domestic
markets for domestic producers. Protectionist policies are on the rise
globally. The global use of protectionist measures in 2018 was unprecedented
with the trade wars looming between two of the largest economies of the
world.
- The study also underlines the opportunity available for India in
increasing its services exports to China. Indices like Revealed Comparative
Advantage (RCA) and Trade Complementarity Index (TCI) have been used to
analyse the extent of India and China’s competiveness in this arena and the
potential for the future.
::SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY::
ICMR prescribes vaccine for GIR lions
- The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has confirmed that
the Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) was responsible for lion deaths in the Gir
forest of Gujarat and recommended that the remaining lions be vaccinated to
prevent further outbreaks. This goes against recommendations by wildlife
biologists that wild animals shouldn’t be vaccinated.
- “The scientists of ICMR-NIV (ICMR-National Institute of Virology)
have recommended the existing CDV vaccine, which should work as a protective
intervention for Gir lions,” said a press statement on Friday from the
institute.
- Though 21 lions reportedly died between September and October, the
Pune-based ICMR-NIV found CDV responsible for the death of five Asiatic
lions in Gir. The genetic sequence of the virus was compared to available
CDV sequences and it was found to be related to the East African strains.
- “It would be stupid to vaccinate wild lions because it’s likely to
compromise their immunity against future infections. These are wild animals
and not ones in a zoo,” Y.S. Jhala, a senior scientist at the Wildlife
Institute of India, had told on Thursday. An ICMR official said
administering a vaccine could, at best, protect unaffected animals.
- CDV causes a highly contagious and life-threatening disease in
dogs. It also affects different wild carnivores viz., wolves, foxes,
raccoons, red pandas, ferrets, hyenas, tigers, and lions. The prevalence of
this virus and its diversity in wildlife of India has not been studied.
::SPORTS::
Kohli,Jadeja puts India in safe zone
- With captain ViratKohli and the lower middle-order following the
tone set by Prithvi Shaw and CheteshwarPujara on the opening day, India
declared its innings at the stroke of tea on the second day with a massive
total of 649 for nine, its highest-ever versus the West Indies in Tests.
- The bowlers then gave the visitors a lesson in disciplined bowling
with the tired Windies batsmen throwing their bats around as if it were a
white-ball game, leaving the side reeling at 94 for six at stumps.
Chess Olympiad concludes with Indian Men & women at 6th& 8th places
respectively
- Indian men took the sixth spot and the women finished eighth in
the Chess Olympiad that concluded here on Friday.
- In the 11th and final round, seeded five in both sections, India
was held 2-2 by Poland with draws on all four boards. In the women’s
section, India struck late to beat Mongolia 3-1, with the victorious duo of
Tania Sachdev and Padmini Rout providing the margin of triumph.
